Background traffic is the autonomous exchange of user plane (also called data plane, forwarding plane, carrier plane or bearer plane) data packets between a wireless device and a network, generally in the absence of a specific contemporaneous user interaction with the device. Background packets often arise due to open applications or processes that remain resident in the device memory and which require the exchange of data on a regular or intermittent basis with peer entities within the network. Examples of background traffic include: so-called “keep alive” behaviors in which the application will, without specific contemporaneous user input, periodically message a remote server associated with the application to keep alive the connection of the application with the server (e.g., a social media application may keep a user logged in and connected to the central server even when the application is not currently being used by the user); tracking functions which, without specific contemporaneous user input, periodically report location information to a remote server (e.g., the updating of weather or traffic status information based on a physical location); and push-pull functions that, without specific contemporaneous user input, periodically request data (pull) and/or receive data (push) from remote servers (e.g., stock applications, news applications, messaging applications, etc., which periodically check for updates (“pull”) from a server and/or have updates “pushed” to them from the server).
Background traffic generally consists of relatively small data packets, and the background traffic data packets of a given wireless device are generally dispersed over time. The overall volume of background traffic handled by the network across an extended time period is generally low when compared to the overall volume of non-background user plane traffic handled over the same time period. However, because the background traffic data packets are generally dispersed over time, the background traffic often requires a significant amount of control-plane network signaling to support repeated connection requests from the wireless device to convey the background traffic data packets from the wireless device to the network. For example, under certain circumstances the wireless device may become Idle in between each instance of background traffic, in which case the wireless device would have to make a separate connection request for each instance of background traffic. Each such connection request generally requires various control-plane network signaling processes regardless of the volume of traffic that will ultimately be transmitted over the connection. As a result, background traffic places a significant load over time on network resources, particularly if a single device has numerous applications requiring intermittent connectivity, which is then combined with all such devices on the network. In addition, the amount of control-plane network signaling associated with background traffic is generally disproportionately large in consideration of the volume of the transmitted background traffic data packets—that is, control-plane network signaling resources are being disproportionately utilized by background traffic.
There are consequences to the specific wireless device as well. It must transition to a Connected mode to transmit the background traffic, thereby creating a drain on battery charge. The repeated transitions from Idle mode to Connected mode and back to Idle mode and so on as a result of background traffic over time cumulatively results in a noticeable diminishing of battery charge.
Therefore, with the widespread use of smartphones and the increase in both the number and variety of the applications, background traffic can significantly impact network efficiency and capacity in daily network operation. Background traffic can also impact the performance of the wireless device in terms of both occupying wireless communication resources and draining battery charge.